UNLESS PRIVACY IS PROTECTED NOW THE INTERNET WILL BE REGULATED OUT OF EXISTENCE IN THE FUTURE

UNLESS ONLINE MARKETERS GET THEIR PRIVACY ACT TOGETHER THEY MAY BE LEGISLATED OUT OF EXISTENCE

Robert Wright, President of Zero-Knowledge Systems of Montreal. The Toronto Star December 23, 1999, TITLE: PROTECTING PRIVACY ONLINE // acs-EE2001

Bottom line: The rules of the new world are being written in real time. If the marketing and advertising gold-diggers don't get their act together and learn to act responsibly, someone will impose rules on them - and perhaps legislate them out of existence.

The data privacy-related lawsuits raise the question of whether the federal government will enact laws and regulations governing the collection and use of online customer data in the U.S. Surprisingly, a number of executives say they would welcome it. "This is one area where self-regulation hasn't been successful," says E-Loan's Larsen. "The industry got lulled into a pretty comfortable position. But there was never a next step in terms of reliability and accountability."

But a backlash is brewing. States, for instance, are trying to prevent companies from selling privacy data without disclosing it. New York's attorney general last week settled with Chase Manhattan Bank after it provided marketers with credit information. And DoubleClick now faces a lawsuit for breach of privacy.

FAILURE TO PROTECT PRIVACY COULD CAUSE THE INTERNET TO GRIND TO A HALT

We're not big on various proposals to create new regulations for the Internet because we believe its free --- and free-wheeling --- nature is part of its success and one of the major reasons it will become more important, economically and socially, in the future. This issue may suggest an exception, however.

Stripping people of their privacy would, in effect, make the Internet less free, because our personal information would be made available in terrifying detail to businesses, advertisers, private investigators, medical insurance providers, you name it. Few people would be willing to accept this if they knew it was happening, and so the growth of the Internet as a medium for commerce, information and communication could grind to a halt.

LACK OF HIGH TECH PRIVCY CONCRNS CAN TRIGGER A CONSUMER BACKLASH OF REGULATIONS

If high-tech firms continue to treat privacy as an afterthought, they threaten not only a consumer backlash that could cut short the potential of e-commerce but also the federal rules the industry hopes to avoid. Privacy bills are already stacking up in Congress. Should that come to pass, the e-world will have only itself to blame.

INFORMATION INDUSTRY MUST CONTROL ITSELF OR RISK A GOVERNMENT REGULATION BACKLASH

To the industry, piecemeal efforts and bromides may seem like a sufficient response, but if the big players continue to treat privacy concerns as little more than an afterthought, the risk of a consumer backlash grows, as do the chances of tough new federal laws.

All the industry needs to do to avoid that is pay careful heed to a simple message:

Computer users who want to get onto the Internet shouldn't be forced to let the Internet get into them.